It was with this episode that the real heyday of the series
began, and many of the catchphrases that would become synonymous with
it are on display, including "...later...later...," "bite me,
it's fun!" "It's not a comic book, it's a graphic novel!" "they're
kinda dumb; and easy to kill," and "Go to bed, old man!"

One of the first things Joel says is: "Looks like we're
back on, everybody!" implying that there's been some sort of break in
communication. Dr. F. adds to the premise when he appears. The first
thing he asks is: "How did you fare going through the asteroid belt?"
Then, nothing more is made of it. One of those pointless little
backstories that made the show so quirky.

That's intern Christopher Wurst as the moleman Gerry,
refereeing the robot arm wrestling. Jerry and Sylvia would never be
seen again.

Joel is up out of his seat a lot in this one, rubs Ator's
pecs, trying to read the giant book and doing the "slow it down"
stretching motion during the slow dialog.

Oddest non-sequitur: Joel says "and...bring me the head of
Gallagher!" apropos of nothing on the screen.

Callbacks: In one shot of a desert, we get the riff:
"Welcome to Death Valley Days. The driver is either missing or he's
dead!" said in a Ronald Reagan voice. This is a reference to a moment
in the "Phantom Creeps" short in Episode 205- Rocket Attack USA, when a
character says, "the driver is gone or he's hiding" in a very Ronald
Reagan-like voice, which prompted a "Welcome to Death Valley Days"
reference. Some fans came to believe that "The driver is either missing
or he's dead" was something that Ronald Reagan actually was known for
saying. Not true.

Also: The riff "Pyuma?!" is a reference to a moment early
in episode 206- Ring of Terror.

Also: "I say it's foggy!" is a reference to the first piece
of dialog in episode 101- The Crawling Eye.

With this episode, season three begins its odd see-saw
rhythm, first a Japanese import, than an American film (mostly classic
50s sci-fi), then back to a Japanese import and so forth.

Crow makes a bad pun about midway through the movie, and
Joel casually rips Crow's arm off and tosses it across the theater!! He
doesn't even let Crow retrieve it at the end of the segment! Later, he
does it again! Yikes! He's so strict!

What causes him to do it a second time is when Gamera is
being blasted off against his will, and Crow says, mockingly "Hey Joel,
remind you of anything?" He and Tom then begin singing the opening
theme song! This seems to enrage Joel.

Joel is carrying a soda can during Tom's song. That's weird
enough, but toward the end of the song, he makes this odd gesture over
Tom's head, like he's catching something invisible. No idea what that's
about.

Mike is hilarious as a smarmy Gamera: "You'd know about
pain--you've seen Spaulding Gray."

Following the song, back in the theater, Crow mercilessly
pummels Tom with Tibby jokes and then Joel joins in, upsetting Tom so
much he tries to leave--and he runs left! Where does he think he's
going?

Tom's hand is clearly taped to his head in the last
segment, and he even yells "Yowch!" when Joel pulls it off.

Did anybody ever send relies to "Kenny! What Gives?" If so,
apparently they weren't funny enough to be included in a later show. In
fact, there were several contests like this in Season 3, and we never
seemed to get any of the responses.

Kim Catrall gets a brief mention! Perhaps the earliest
notice of her.

Goof: Tom Servo mentions Kenny's rocks before the "Kenny's
rocks" scene in the movie. A lot of times they do a host segment that
might have been more effective if it appeared later in an episode,
after whatever they're referencing takes place in the movie. This is
one of those. They've watched the movie nine times and they've lost
track of when stuff happens.

Now dated riff: Tom does a Robin Leach impression--at the
time his show, "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" was all the rage.
It's largely forgotten now.

Also: Crow notes that the other international leaders are
likely to listen to Japan "since you own their countries." It's been
quite a while since the notion of the Japanese having so much money
they're buying up everything has been current.

Joel does plenty more interacting with the screen,
including trying to turn the ship's wheel, plays with the knobs on the
radar box and peeking over the edge of an ice crevass. Crow joins in,
getting ready to bite a guy's sport jacket button until Tom sees him
and says "Crow..."

The next episode, "Pod People," is famous for its "Chief?
McCloud!" riffs, but did you catch the one here? "Goodbye, Chief."
"Goodbye, McCloud."

First shown: 6/15/91.Opening: A reading from Crow's one man show.Invention exchange: Monster chord, public domain karoke
machine.Host segment 1: J&TB record "Idiot Control Now" and it
stinks!Host segment 2: New Age music from Some Guys in Space.Host segment 3: "You are magic, aren't you, Trumpy?!"End: Song: "Will There Still Be a Clown in the Sky?"Stinger: "It stinks!"

Comments and observations:

People adore this episode. It's frequently cited as a
favorite. A decade and a half later, people are still saying "Trumpy,
you can magic things!" and "Huzzah!" Me, I have a hard time with it.
I've never been able to sit through it one sitting without falling
asleep. Maybe it's all the fog and new agey music.

Kevin croaks out the word "merchant" in the opening
bit--they left it in

Joel covers the differences between the blown up bots in
the segment and the regular bots in the theater by mumbling "Good thing
we got those re-...um...those new heads on..."

During the wall of keyboards sketch, Crow has a bit of the
sandwich he's eating on his beak. Nice detail.

Also--Why is Joel staring down at the floor while he's
giving his lines? Is he reading them?

A lot of people had no idea what the origin of that voice
was that Crow does when he does Trumpy. "He's like a poh-tay-toe!" He's
doing a vague impression of The Elephant Man from the movie of the same
name.

Joel feels it necessary to AGAIN explain the premise, this
time adding some details we've never heard before, nor will ever hear
again. He says, "As you can tell by the opening the Mads made..." and
also says the mads "sell the results to cable TV." I guess that would
explain why Tom and Crow could make reference to the opening in a
previous episode.

To wake the bots up, Joel throws glittery confetti. What is
he, the Harlem Globetrotters?

Callbacks: Two uses of "hikeeba" (Women of the Prehistoric
Planet) and several uses of "No!!!" (Cave Dwellers).

Also: A reference to Sidehackers: "The most dramatic
confrontation since Rommel met JC."

Tom Servo loses his head...this time to become a t-ball
stand. And during Joel's second
at-bat, he knocks off a bit more than that ball from Tom's head. Ouch.

Joel blows his line big time in the first segment--"You
potched up the hole"? Sheesh.

Continuing the casualness of the scene, Crow's baseball
glove falls off and Joel just rolls right with it.

The baby is played by little Eli Mallon, now a teenager.

Joel continues his strict style in the theater, AGAIN
threatening to dismember Crow when he does a pun.

Why is Tom wearing a coffee mug after the opening bit? He's
still wearing it in the theater, and Crow is still netless.

Just a really dumb line from the movie: "There's been
earthquakes, but nothing will happen suddenly." What??

As the monkey wakes up, it sure sounds like Joel says
"Shit." It might be "shoot" though.

Crow reenters the theater still wearing his hat from
the TV News segment.

Tom does a very odd Dalek impression.

Crow asks Joel: "You said 'bowling ball' earlier. What did
that mean?" Well, Crow, Joel was reacting to a shot of sunbleached
skull that looked vaguely like a bowling ball--albeit a white one.

During that Bell Labs segment, I love that Crow provides
the projector noise, and that Tom misses a few sprockets, only to be
nudged back into place by Joel. A little segment done by former
A/V geeks, I'd bet.

As they return to the theater after the bit with the
cardboard cutout of Wapner, Joel is still carrying the cutout and
tosses it toward the screen saying "Fly, judgie! Fly!" It travels quite
a way!

Tom wears another disturbing mask in the final host
segment; this one is a monkey.

When Joel left, and debates raged on the net about the
difference between Joel eps and Mike eps, some people tried to say that
host segments in Mike episodes were less often direct reactions to the
movie in that episode. The problem is that OTHER people complained that
host segments in Mike episodes were MORE often about the movie. The
truth is there was no major difference--but those who say host segments
in Joel eps had more to do with the movie were probably thinking of
episodes like this one...just about ALL the host segments are not only
related to the movie, they're DIRECT parodies or reenactments.

J&TB introduce the phrase "Saaaaaay!" to the MSTie
lexicon.

That's Tim Scott as the miracle growth baby, a role he is
STILL living down...

The short is the first of many educational shorts that
would eventually become one of the most popular elements on the series.

"Yank your trousers higher than Corey Haim" is a great
lyric.

In the reenactment of the race, note that Tom plays the guy
and Crow plays the girl, for a change! It probably has to do with the
placement of the guy and gal in the movie, but still!

When they re-enter the theater, Tom covers the absence of
the cars they were wearing by saying "Good thing we were thrown clear
of those cars!"

Chillias drops a cigar container and Crow does an
interesting callback--"That's from Catalina Caper"--he's referencing
the container that antogonists hid the mcguffin in, in that movie..

Why is Tom wearing a fez?

Dated reference: "That's what Zsa Zsa did to that cop."

Nice running gag with the bots saying the lady in the club
looks like Lou Reed from the Transformer album--which I gotta admit she
sorta does.

Little letter writer Christina was 7 when she wrote to the
show back in '91. That means she's old enough to be in college now....

The crowning glory of this terrific and groundbreaking ep
is the famous "broken button" bit, a gem people remembered for years.
"Frank, I think the baby needs to be changed"..."But he's gotta wanna
change!" Unfortunately,
in later years a lazy Comedy Central did not respect the bit and
actually ran voice overs during it--an incident that sparked one of
several major online protests among fans.

Oh, Dick Contino, how did you do it? Did you convince
someone that you could be a rock'n'roll idol for the masses? Where did
you hide your accordion?

Another movie where the teens are in their 40s. And yet
Harmony Korine isn't directing.

First shown: 8/3/91.Opening: Crow and Tom are in their fort.Invention exchange: A plant that reviews music,
non-permanent tattoos.Host segment 1: Nice things to say to Glen's fiancee.Host segment 2: Joel agonizes about being a 50-foot man.Host segment 3: The bots wonder what they'd ask Glen, then
he visits.End: What Glen could've done, letters, giving Frank the
giant hypo.Stinger: Glen laughing 'til it hurts.

Comments and observations:

Callback: "The HU-man" (Robot Monster).

This movie has an incredibly long shot with nothing
happening and nobody in frame--we just look at a door for a good 20
seconds.

As they leave for the break, Crow departs, then rushes back
for one more riff

Vaguely dirty riff: "Sorry, wrong bone growth."

Dated riff: Calling A&E the "all-Hitler Channel"--this
was before A&E spun off their massive library of World War II
documentaries to places like The History Channel.

Joel is hilarious as Glen, the 50-foot man! "Aah! No!"

During that sketch Tom appears to be able to use his arms!
Crow even asks him about it!

In the lab scene, they do THREE CONSECUTIVE riffs on the
same basic joke--the idea that cosmetic companies use animals like
rabbits to test their products. It's one of the few times I recall them
ever doing what are, essentially, three identical jokes in a row. They
make up for it, though, when Crow's does a great little voice as the
rabbit.

The movie's single strangest idea (and that's saying
something): the notion that the heart is "made up of a single cell."
Did they think audiences were going to buy that?

Mike is also great as Glen.

Joel is still holding the Barbie from the earlier sketch
later on.

Mixed up host seg: They mention Glen in Vegas, when we
haven't gotten to that part of the movie yet.

Tom makes a pun and Crow warns him: "That kinda talk'll get
your arm ripped off." From one who knows.

There are several political jokes in this one; that tended
to be a rarity, thankfully. I suspect Mike (whose politics have,
subsequently, been revealed as center/right (he's a pal of
fellow-Minnesotan James Lileks and center-right radio host Hugh Hewitt)
may have been the moderating influence preventing too much of this, and
thereby preventing the show from alienating half of the audience. Good
for him. The result is that MSTies come from all ends of the political
spectrum, despite the fact most of the writers were proud,
died-in-the-wool Minnesota liberals.

That third segment with the song is a weird one...

Obscure riff: "Not the craw, the craw!"

The closing repetition of the speech can be explained by
Joel's earlier admission that the show was a bit short that week...

I know, it's just a show, but I always love it when Joel
fills in the plot premises, like in this episode when he mentions Tom's
hoverskirt, and sort of explains how it works. He also takes a moment
to explain Gypsy and her role again.

As noted elsewhere, it seems like they had season one and
Josh Weinstein on the brain during this episode. In the opening bit,
the Mads reprise the season-one catchphrase "Thank you!!"-then look
embarrassed. Later, as the deputy is devoured by the spider, they
shout: "Dr. Erhardt no! So that's what happened to him!" (a reference
to the fact that his fate was never really spelled out when he was
written out of the premise). And at the end, in another homage to
season one, Joel offers ram chips as rewards!

Callback "...and a good friend" (Rocketship XM)

Also, a reference to Joe Doakes (X Marks the Spot)

Also, 'the spider is either missing or he's dead!' (Phantom
Creeps)

I love how Crow's "lips" move while they read their parts
in the scene-reading sketch. Trace's little touches like that were what
made him so justly beloved.

Joel invokes the Ashwaubenon High Jaguars, from his
real-life Wisconsin high school.

The ELP bashing is interesting. That feels to me like it
came from Mike.

Geek alert: In the Rocket Number 9 shot, the spaceship is
a badly disguised klingon warbird model. I'm so embarassed that I know
that.

This would not be the last time Mike played a janitor!

At one point, a character that looks like Dennis Miller
appears. Joel begins to point that out and, wow, does Crow step on his
line. They just kept rolling, though.

Dated reference: Who remembers the TV show "She's the
sheriff"?

An odd moment as they re-enter the theater, Joel says
"We're comin' out of the game thing." In some of the outtakes that have
come to light in recent years, we sometimes see them reminding each
other what host segment appeared in the show before the current theater
segment. Filming schedules were such that host segments were filmed on
one day and theater segments another day, so it was sometimes easy to
forget where all the pieces fit in the puzzle. I think that's what Joel
was doing here, but they didn't bother to start over.

I can't find it on the Web now, but I remember we used to
link to this odd web site by this guy who was REALLY into the
Thingmaker and Creeple People, and who posted a transcript of this
entire bit because he found it so moving.

At the beginning of the invention exchange, you may be
wondering why there is velcro on the bots' heads. You soon find out.

Yikes, those awful pictures at the beginning of the movie.
Ick.

Yes, Joel, the joke was racist.

Callback: Pyuma? (Ring of Terror)

Also: "that's pretty good!" (Sidehackers)

Vaguely dirty "I was just daydreaming"

Also: "full thrust!" Crow: "Really!"

There's a reference in this one to Tommy Bartlett, the
Wisconsin impresario responsible for several attractions in the
Wisconsin Dells. You pretty much have to have vacationed in the Midwest
to get that one.

I love the way the camera slightly rocks during
shanty--though it makes me a little nauseous.

I'm with Crow--it took me several viewings to get a handle
on this plot. I couldn't remember a thing--it seemed to self-erase in
my memory as I watched it. It took many viewings to get any sense of
what the damn thing was about, or for any of it to stick in my memory.

As Frank and Dr. F prepare to mix it up, Frank makes use of
the classic "Road House" line: "Take the train."

There were many variations of the gag: "Just throw that
stuff in back, I kinda live outta my car." In the waterskiing scene
it's: "Just throw that stuff in the back. I kinda live off my
shoulders."

This was the episode with infamous "Catching Trouble"
short--featuring such casually cruel footage that J&TB feel they
must immediately take revenge. It's a hilarious bit--I love Joel's cry
of "No, we went to camp together! He hates me!"

Favorite riff: "Ross tries to towel away the evil, but
nothing doing"

Also: "Hope you like sticks!"

Joel has one bear cub call another bear cub "Greg. Tom then
turns to him and asks, incredulously, "Greg?"

Note the moment in the theater when Tom Servo applauds.
...um...

Note the Star Trek
fight music playing during second fight scene

For some reason Crow's net is on the counter during he
conservatism segment

Vaguely dirty riff: He invented the quiver--so did SHE!

Callback: "Thong, the fish are ready!" (Cave Dwellers)

Also: "Chili peppers burn my gut" (Sidehackers)

Another Photomat reference. What happened to them?

A Firesign Theater reference as Tom, as the old survivor,
says something "scared everybody."

Twice in two episodes they have used the Odd Couple reference: "bad meat or
good cheese"

First shown: 10/19/91.Opening: Root beer party for the last Gamera film.Invention exchange: Three Stooges guns, Crow-ka-bob.Host segment 1: Scale model of Gamera.Host segment 2: Shoe box dioramas.Host segment 3: Football talk, then Kenny and Helen visit
on the Hexfield.End: Different ways to sing the Gamera song.Stinger: An excerpt from "Fish Argument Theater."

Comments and observations:

If you wonder what got Sandy Frank mad, just check out this
ep--several slams on him here, including a comment that his IQ is
13-and-a-half.

In the segment with the Gamera model, you can see some
"guts" leaking out the bottom from behind the door before Joel opens it.

The dubbing of this movie is very confusing--at various
points the girl, that weird cobwebby monster in the ship, the ship
itself, the planet it comes from and that monster that fights with
Gamera are all called "Zigra."

Favorite riff: "And, uh, maybe you could dust up here
some time!"

Also: "Stay away from those powerful hind legs, kids."

Also: "Wait I found some more oxygen in a drawer. We're
fine."

Dated riff: A deserved slam on once-prominent klan leader
David Duke, but how many people even remember him now?

During the sketch with the diaramas, a table seems to have
been added to the set in front of the normal desk. It looks like it was
something out of the prop shop--there's random paint stains all over it.

Tom again does an impression of Dr. Erhardt saying "Enjoy!"
It's not evident why...

A glaring mistake in the dubbing: The girl says she is
going to feed the kids to the dolphins, but the animals in the tank
before her are killer whales.

Obscure reference/pun: "That terrapin is stationary." The
right Deadheads will get it.

In the host segment with the hexfield, the model of Gamera
is, well, lame. Note: this is Bridget's first appearance on the show.

Tom really goes wild with the song lyric references in the
latter half of the show--there are about a half dozen.

Ah, Mister B. A classic short, probably the most famous of
all the shorts and maybe the most watched 20 or so minutes of the
series.

I may have seen the short more than any other 20 minutes of
the
show, and I almost know it by heart--but some of the riffs still make
me laugh out loud, including: "Mom, Dad--tell me you heard that!"

Can I just mention, however, that the short is in horrible
shape? Mr. B's
arrival in the kid's home has been spliced out. It was probably
hilarious, so much so that somebody kept it for their own collection of
goofy footage. A lot of classic moments in movies have been lost to
anonymous "collectors" savaging the only remaining copies of some
movies.

The gibberish Joel shouts at the end of the KTLA sketch
comes from the chaotic labels of a product known as Dr. Bronner's Magic
Soap--still available at your local health food store. For an
explanation of this stuff, see
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_386.html

Movie comment: Yet ANOTHER movie that ends in Griffith Park.

Crow says: "That's a jeep joke" and Tom begins to say
something, but Joel steps right on his line and he shuts up. They just
keep rolling!

Callback: Mccloud! (Pod People)

The movie seems almost an afterthought after the wild
short--it's seems gray and kind of dull.

First shown: 12/14/91.Opening: Making a funny home video.Invention exchange: Hard pills to swallow, celebrity
products.Host segment 1: "Appreciating Gypsy."Host segment 2: The many faces of Tor Johnson.Host segment 3: Combination of games based on the movie.End: Dead End Kids lingo, letter, and Dr. F does his Dead
End Kid.Stinger: "Time for go to bed!"

Comments and observations:

Oh, the irony of an America's
Funniest Home Videos parody. Little did Trace suspect he would
be drawing a paycheck from it in less than ten years.

This may be an almost perfect iteration of the show--I
think the "two shorts and a very short movie" may be the perfect
combination." Nonetheless, the movie still seems endless.

The invention exchanges are particularly funny, with the
"Hard Pills to Swallow" ie particuarly hilarious largely because Trace
and Frank play it so well.

Crow is still gnarled when they to into the theater--but at
one point he says "I better go freshen up," walks off, about three
riffs go by without him and then he returns good as new.

Joel says something odd: "That's when the kids came up with
a plan to blackmail Mrs. Reedy!" Where does that name come from? Joel
knows the name of the woman in the short is Miss Martin, he says it a
few lines later... Is that a reference to something?

Tom seems scandalized by Joel's reference to VPL.

Spot the invention exchanges scattered about in the
still-frame of the messy bridge during the first host segment. There
are a lot of 'em!

Some techies may be amused by the appearance of an early
version of the "Video toaster." Frankly, it doesn't seem that
impressive. Maybe they were just not very good at it using it, but most
of the images are muddy and fuzzy and hard to make out. The Video
Toaster still exists, by the way.

As the movie drags on, the riffing gets pretty random.

One other note about that scene, the shot of Tor Johnson
that is used over and over is at the very very end of the movie.
Another example of them using a moment from the movie they are familiar
with because they've seen it nine times, but that we aren't because
we're still in the middle.

This episode was the one they were working on when a crew
from Comedy Central arrived at the studios to shoot footage for the
documentary "This is MST3K." Unfortunately, that fact led to some
misunderstandings among the fans. The regular robots had been altered
slightly with Christmas additions and so those were used in the theater
rather than the usual black bots. It was difficult to get people to
believe the black bots were used in the theater normally, when they
could see differently with their own eyes.

The episode starts abruptly (after the first commercial
break), directly in Deep 13 rather than the usual small bit in the SOL.
Were they just hurrying for time?

What is a "video cassette cartridge game"? Frank seems to
think kids would like to get one...

Why isn't the tree in the background in Deep 13 decorated?

Whoa! Open flame in the "misfit toys" sketch!!

The movie has no title card. Hmmm... again, cut for time?
Update: Perhaps not! The version you can download at Archive.org
(http://www.archive.org/details/santa_claus_conquers_the_martians) also
has no title card. Is this the only print available? If so it's another
example of what I was referring to earlier. A lot of the sole surviving
prints of movies have been butchered by projectionists and collectors.

Dated references: C. Everett Koop...Twin Peaks...the Thomas
hearings..."Gates has been confirmed"...the notion that Drew Barrymore
is a little kid...also: the first of several references to long
forgotten ATT commercial character 'Bonnie, your Time/Life operator.'

In the invention exchange, the script does not call for
them to open the Naked Lunch book--so the prop guys didn't bother
making something that opens. Unfortunately that makes it not look very
much like a book.

This comment is true about a number of episodes I have
taped from the great summer of '95 when CC ran every episode, in order,
at midnight. Little ten-second bumpers were added featuring info about
the movie and other stuff. In more cases than not, the facts therein
are materially wrong. The info was supplied to them by a
then-well-known and well-connected MSTie named Mike Pearce. Mike had
managed to develop a very comfortable relationship with somebody in the
programming dept. at Comedy Central and was a very reliable source for
information from CC-especially monthly schedules that were almost never
wrong. But wow, he really got some of his facts wrong on these bumpers
more often than not.

I like the way Crow ZOOMS out of the theater as he heads
into the first internal host segment, hurrying to prepare his expose of
the "Van Patten Project."

Crow still has his net off when he returns to the theater.

Another reference to "Bonnie, your Time/Life operator" a
reference to a long-forgotten commercial.

Once again there's a bit that makes a reference to a
portion of the movie we haven't seen yet--this time it's Frank, with
top hat and can saying "It's show ti-" We have no idea what he means
until we return to the movie and get the second plot about the aging
hoofer.

I had forgotten how really almost incomprehensible Timothy
Van Patten is in this movie--he talks WAY to fast and mumbles most of
the time.

Favorite riff: "Yeah but I'm out $20. Let's go back to
the magic store."

First shown: 1/18/92.Opening: The SOL's Teen Club.Invention exchange: The bots offer an extremely useful
telephone transducer chip, while all Joel has is
the big head (again), the Joe Besser "Stinky" Bomb.Host segment 1: Crow decries "The Miss Saigon Syndrome,"
J&TB become distraught, the Mads
are pleased.Host segment 2: The Shriner Flying Carpet sketch collapses
into weeping; delighted, the Mads order out.Host segment 3: The bots are inconsolable, Joel tries to
cheer them up with the story of Fu-Manchu, but
the pain becomes too much. The Mads celebrate.End: J&TB are utterly beaten, the Mads toast their
victory and are so cocky they try to riff the film
themselves! Gotcha!Stinger: Monkey pile on the castle guard!

Comments and observations:

The "marching band" song in that starts the show--which, by
the way, ONCE AGAIN explains the premise--contains a very familiar
lyric: "Stories! Fun! Toys!" It's probably from an ancient kid's show.
Likewise the line at the end, "Warriors of the World--by Marx!" Marx
was a toy company. Somebody must know what it refers to.

When Crow and Tom do their invention exchange, there's a
closeup on Tom's hand--sheesh, couldn't they have repainted it for the
closeup? It looks terrible.

Another reappearance of the Big Head.

Dr. F. lights the fuse on the Stinky Bomb and the sparks
almost puts Frank's eyes out.

Dated reference: "Filmed in Oakland."

Also: "Doogie Hauser!"

Movie comment: Some of the footage in the movie is clearly
stolen from other movies. I'd love to know which ones.

J&TB enter the theater with their Shriner costumes on.
Joel removes his, then Crow's, then turns to remove Tom's fez, then
either can't do it or thinks better of it.

Favorite riff: "Don't step in the guy."

Callback: "No!" (Cave Dwellers)

Also: "Glen Manning get off that dam!" (Amazing Colossal
Man)

Also: "I can remember a thousand wonderful hours..."
(Rocketship XM)

Who drew those "artist's renderings"?

At different points, both Tom and Joel get irritated at
Crow and tell him to shut up or stop.

When those cakes of ice float to the surface of the water,
Joel makes an odd pantomime that looks a little like he's picking his
nose. I watched it a couple of times, and then it hit me that he's
miming snorting coke.

Love the slam on Toastmasters (an organization full of
people who think they're witty, but usually aren't).

At one point, BBI was talking about doing "Master Ninja 3."
Cooler heads prevailed, I guess.

The "improv group" sketches in the beginning are clearly a
chance to vent their spleen at the many low-rent improv groups that,
well, are pretty scripted.

Segment 3, where Tom pairs detectives with appropriate
pets, is a classic, the kind of sketch that made MST3K so beloved:
Clever, well-written and off the wall.

Where is that mansion in the second episode--er, I mean,
the second half of the movie? For a moment Tim runs onto the patio and
we can see the Hollywood sign behind him! From the angle, I'd say
Beverly Hills? Or not?

Tom yells "FOUCAULT!!!" at the end of the episode--hope the
censors didn't have a fit.